Saturday, January 28, 2006

Question About Hawk Repeller Ideas

It was a beautiful sunny morning and when I looked out at the pond, there were 15 or 20 Robins hanging around, drinking water and bathing. So the questions is: Do the moving shining strips scare a 2 foot tall Hawk with a 5 foot wing span and not scare an 8 inch tall Robin with a wing span of less than a foot? I haven't see the Hawk but inquiring minds want to know. I picked out a bunch of leaves and some string alge this afternoon. The string alge seems to be a lot worse this year, maybe because the winter has been so much warmer than last year. I did see a bunch of fish laying near the bottom even though the water temp is about 48 degrees.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Massacre at the Pond

A sad time Sunday afternoon when checking the pond, there appeared to be some fish parts floating on the surface. Upon closer inspection, I could see a goldfish about a foot under water that had been torn. His head was almost detached from the body. I pulled him out for a closer look but was unable to determine what caused his demise. It really looks like a predator attacked him but dropped him before finishing the meal or taking him home for the predator family meal. I don't know how long he was dead but it appeared to happen that day with the body parts floating on the surface. All seemed calm tonight with the other fish.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Hawk Repeller Ideas

I have installed two new Hawk repeller ideas. My research has indicated that hawks don't like shiny moving stuff. With this in mind, I have hung 2 inch wide strips of shiny tape from the lights and trees around the pond. In addition, I have located a shiny whirlygig next to the Egret sculpture.These additions to the pondscape are pretty ugly but I feel some responsibility to try to protect the fish from being dinner for a huge bird. Although I have an abundance of fish and great respect for the normal activity of mother nature, I think of these fish as pets. The pond may actually be a threat to the hawk since it may be too easy for him to fill his belly and if the pond is closed, he'll have to learn to hunt all over again. And I'd hate for him to starve.

Friday, January 13, 2006

The Hawk is Back

Yesterday was beautiful, sunny with temps in the 60's and the water temperature warming into the mid 50's but there was little fish activity. With the warmer weather, I turned on the lights around the pond for a couple of hours last night. When I went out to turn the lights off, the Hawk was there sitting on the back of one of the chairs. I hadn't seen him at night before so it was quite startling as he took off suddenly. As much as I hated to, I put the net back over the pond and will investigate other anti-hawk tactics this weekend.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

What the Best Dressed Ponder Wears

Working on a pond requires a lot of hands in the water. It's not bad in the summer and fall but in the winter the water gets very cold My wife solved this problem with a very unique Christmas gift. She found some pond gloves that cover your hands with heavy rubber and extend above the elbow. They are very attractive if you like bold colors. I wore them today for the first time when cleaning the pumps and filters and they were great. No cold hands and I kept my shirt sleves dry which is very unusual for me when doing anything around the pond.

As usual when I clean the pond, the fish came out in mass to check out the change in their environment. I removed the net today since it was so ugly and will watch for the return of the hawk.